The details of this talk include Thich Nhat Hanh’s profound advice on healing oneself and caring for the soul by returning to the present moment instead of seeking happiness elsewhere. He emphasizes the practice of mindfulness through breathing and walking to achieve peace and heal society. He mentions the New Town massacre and the question of the ability to heal the ailments of modern society. He shares the story of a young man facing psychological difficulties leading to violence and encourages to send energy of love to wounded children. He discusses the three marks of Buddhism: impermanence, non-self, and Nirvana, emphasizing that the Buddha’s purpose is to help people escape suffering. He warns against fanaticism and dogmatism, stressing that Buddhism does not contain violence. He shares about the scientific spirit of Buddhism through the Kalama Sutta, encouraging thorough reflection before accepting teachings. He also discusses the principle of dependent origination and the middle way, emphasizing that understanding dependent origination helps achieve a state of peace and enlightenment.

After forty years apart, I returned to Vietnam for the first time to share a Dharma talk, filled with longing because so many generations had grown up in my absence and many loved ones had already passed away. During forty years abroad, a fourfold Sangha has been established:

1. Monastics – the brothers and sisters, monks and nuns
2. Lay practitioners – laymen and laywomen
   with about 1,000 practice communities (tens of millions of members) throughout Europe, America, Australia, New Zealand… They gather together to listen to the Dharma, to sit in meditation, to eat mindfully, and to practice just as we do today.

In this Dharma talk, the Dharma of “Dwelling happily in the present moment” – living happily right in this very moment – is illustrated by the “pebble meditation” with four pebbles as reminders:

1. “I have arrived, I am home”
2. “Now, here”
3. “Solid, free”
4. “I take refuge”
   By holding each pebble, naming it, and smiling, we let go of the past, let go of the future, and fully embrace the present moment—this is truly the Pure Land right before our eyes.

In this session of questions and answers the following questions were asked:

By the children:

• How do you control the urge to hit when you are very upset?
  -Do you ever get frustrated with yourself?
• How can I not suffer when people are not being good to this world?

By the teens and young adults:

• How old were you when you decided to become a monk and what commitments are required?
• What should I do with strong positive and negative energy?
• What does it mean to go home to yourself?

By the adults:

• Can we communicate with loved ones who have passed away?
• Does taking the Five Mindfulness Trainings clean away past negative actions?
• How can I handle the discouragement and isolation caused by comparing my practice to Thầy?
• What to do when a commitment made from unclear understanding causes suffering if broken?
• How can the impulse to protect others be reconciled with the practice of non-discrimination?
• How can I reconcile feeling the presence of Jesus with what I was taught to believe about other religions?

During this session, Thầy Pháp Lưu introduces Wake Up, a movement of young practitioners aged seventeen to thirty-five dedicated to bringing mindfulness into their daily lives and local communities. He highlights the synergy between the youth and the older Sangha as the movement expands through university tours across the U.K. and the United States.

This Questions and Answers session was organised during the Stepping Into Freedom—Savouring Life retreat in the year 2011. Thầy offered this session at Blue Cliff Monastery, Pine Bush, New York, the United States.

We gather together in Plum Village, France on May 3, 2002. The talk begins with an Ordination Ceremony receiving new members into the Order of Interbeing, on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of Plum Village. Following that is a Q&A session about difficulties and happiness in the practice.

The questions asked during the Q&A session include:

• How to transform habit energies of gambling in a spouse when they promise to change but then relapse, causing the family suffering?
• How can two sisters live together without fighting when conflict arises by the third day of meeting, even though we have tried to apply the practice of Beginning Anew?
• How to withdraw a vow to cut off relations with the family uttered in anger and reconcile with loved ones?
• How to use the eyes of compassion to look at life and embrace complex political and social trends as well as past crises?
• How to ensure a spouse values the relatives of both sides of the family equally?
• What to do to help mother transform the fear and insomnia stemming from a superstitious event in the past related to a white tablecloth?
• How to write a letter to heal the sisterly relationship after past misunderstandings and avoidance, when the older sister is still angry and does not reply?
• Is there a method to embrace feelings of compassion that are too strong when doing social work so as not to be choked up and to be able to continue the work?
• How to ordain as a monk without causing suffering to a girlfriend who is very lonely and afraid of losing me?
• Should I continue to attend family gatherings when I see the atmosphere there turning towards decadence and bringing suffering to me?

We are at Dharma Cloud Temple, Upper Hamlet of Plum Village on February 18, 2001, concluding the 2000-2001 Winter Retreat. While sitting in meditation, we can make the in-breath become a Question and the out-breath become an Answer to establish our presence in the present moment.

Below are Questions that can be used for looking deeply during the practice:

1. Am I truly present?
2. Am I at ease right now?
3. Is there ease and relaxation in my body?
4. Is my mind at ease right now, or is it caught in anything?
5. Do I know that I have the good fortune to be sitting with the Sangha?
6. Do I know that things are impermanent?
7. Do I know that I am impermanent, that I am changing?
8. Is my mother impermanent?
9. Is my teacher impermanent?
10. Can I see the nature of no-self in myself?
11. How do I feel right now?
12. What am I doing?
13. What is my original aspiration?
14. Who am I?
15. Can I truly touch the nature of no-self?
16. What Question needs to be asked right now?
17. What can I let go of right now?
18. What can I do right now that is nourishing?
19. Is what I am doing right now nourishing me?
20. Am I looking with the eyes of the Buddha?
21. What am I thinking?
22. Which seed am I watering right now?
23. Am I free?
24. How am I breathing?
25. Can I live without fear?
26. Am I truly practicing mindfulness?
27. What opportunity do I have right now?
28. What elements am I made of?
29. Is my mind right now an awakened mind or a deluded mind?

Next are Questions to look deeply into the wounds of the past in order to transform and heal:

1. Is the person who made me suffer happy?
2. How was that person treated when they were a child?
3. What difficulties and misfortunes did that person encounter?

“Living Tradition of Buddhist Meditation Practice” (TTSĐCTTĐB) is a series of Dharma talks given by Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh between 1994 and 1997. Through these talks, we are guided on a historical journey of Buddhist meditation practice from India to Vietnam and China. We will discover that Buddhism was transmitted from India to Vietnam hundreds of years before it reached China, contrary to common belief. Additionally, we will learn about the distinguished and profound Zen masters of Vietnam who are seldom mentioned. This is a long and fascinating journey, offering many new insights and practical methods for practice.

In 2012 at Upper Hamlet, Plum Village, as light snow was falling, the Dharma talk began with the image of a pot without a lid—an image for the emptiness, fear, and longing for protection that arise from childhood when the little child does not yet know how to take care of herself. We often look for a “lid” outside ourselves—a lover, friends, parents—in the hope of finding peace, but when the “lid” is not a true source of protection, the inner turmoil becomes even more suppressed. Recognizing that the helpless child within us is still alive, carrying the original fear, is the first step so that we do not continue to carry a dependent psychology.

Practicing mindfulness with the first mantra, “I am here for you,” means we are present for ourselves; this is how we become the “lid” for our own being. When we breathe, walk, and sit in mindfulness, body and mind are one, and we touch and nourish the wondrous elements that are present, fully capable of embracing, looking deeply, and transforming anxiety and sorrow. By taking refuge in the sangha—a community practicing mindfulness, concentration, and insight—we do not close the door and hold our pain in loneliness, but open ourselves to joy, happiness, and the collective energy, so that each mental formation can be healed.

Looking deeply into all phenomena reveals that form, feelings, perceptions, mental formations, and consciousness all arise due to conditions; they have no fixed self-nature. Searching for “ultimate reality” in atoms, energy, or symmetry is only to seek conditions (objects of mind), not the object of true understanding; furthermore, the five sense organs cannot perceive the four basic elements. The most subtle elements, though they exist, are only conditions for the mind to construct—all are conditioned, impermanent, and illusory. Seeing the signless nature within the arising and passing, being and non-being, leads to liberation from suffering.

The lively Zen tradition of the Buddha’s teachings and the practice methods at Plum Village.

The details of this Dharma Talk took place on January 10, 2013, during the Winter Retreat 2012-2013 at Plum Village. Monks, nuns, and lay practitioners practiced touching the earth with the theme of the Three Jewels, which include the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha. Thich Nhat Hanh emphasized that understanding the Three Jewels helps achieve happiness and a strong spirit. He explained that understanding and love are the keys to happiness, starting with understanding and loving oneself before loving others. He also emphasized that everyone has the ability to transform suffering into happiness through the practice. He shared that building a Sangha is the top priority, helping everyone transform suffering and reconcile. He taught that everything exists due to interbeing and interdependence, relying on each other. He also emphasized that Buddhist teachings are not dogmas but means to liberation.

At Plum Village, we only sing songs that are self-composed; we do not sing heart-wrenching songs from the outside world. The Buddha taught us not to pursue the past or the future, because the past is already gone and the future has not yet come; only the present moment, recognized with heart and mind, can show us how to live alone in peace. Brother Michael and his girlfriend once lived happily abroad, but after reading the book Peace is Every Step, they returned to Plum Village and ordained together with the mind of a Bodhisattva. Their love became more pure, bringing happiness to many practitioners. Now, there is a monastic community of Western origin from 25 countries, establishing a solid foundation for Western Buddhism.

The sangha recites the Incense Offering and the Heart Sutra in English, as the practitioners come from many nations. In the recitation, Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva, through the insight of Prajñāpāramitā, clearly sees the emptiness of the five skandhas:

1. form is emptiness, emptiness is form
2. feelings, perceptions, mental formations, and consciousness are also not different from emptiness
3. no birth, no death, no defilement, no purity, no increase, no decrease
   Next comes the most precious mantra: Gate Gate Paragate Parasamgate Bodhi Svaha, inviting us to cross over to the shore of enlightenment.

“Finding Each Other” is a song about the first love with the World-Honored One, the longing to search for Him since childhood, passing through the hell of Avīci, and finally realizing that He is always present, peaceful, neither born nor dying. The song was set to music by musician Anh Viet from Thay’s poem, included in the collection “Drops of Emptiness” commemorating 15 years of Plum Village, published after six months of editing.

Details of this talk address listening to music and feeling music, the purpose of listening to music, facing pain instead of avoiding it, and the value of art in life. The family prepares to watch a movie together a few days in advance to create a sense of reunion. The reader wants to help you find happiness by changing from within and recognizing authoritarian traits. It is important to take care of yourself, maintain a positive state, and practice mindfulness even in a busy life. Thich Nhat Hanh encourages transforming suffering into opportunities for growth, living in the present instead of the painful past, and finding a balance between self-care and caring for the family. He emphasizes compassion, understanding, and the method of repentance through the Practice of Touching the Earth every three months to resolve difficulties.

Mindfulness is true presence in the present moment, and mindful breathing is the core method to nourish lasting mindfulness. This method was taught by the Buddha in the Anapanasati Sutra (Mindfulness of Breathing), recorded fully in the Pali Canon and with equivalents found in the Chinese Āgama. For nearly 2,600 years, both the Southern (Nikāya) and Northern (Āgama) traditions have preserved the teachings on mindfulness of breathing, demonstrating the indestructibility and timeless value of this Dharma door.

Practicing conscious breathing helps us “dwell at home” with the five aggregates (form, feeling, perception, mental formations, consciousness), caring for body and mind as a king cares for the affairs of state. When there is mindfulness through the breath, we do not allow suffering, anger, or anxiety to arise chaotically, but instead welcome, recognize, and embrace them as a mother soothes her child. From the moment of waiting to hear the bell, sitting down to eat, walking meditation, to sitting meditation, simply breathing in—breathing out with awareness of the breath, body and mind become one, awakening inner security and happiness.

The process of practicing mindfulness of breathing

• Recognize the in-breath and out-breath (object of mindfulness – subject of mindfulness) without judging, simply being aware of the quality of the breath (short/long, coarse/subtle, noisy/quiet)
• Allow mindfulness to arise and continue naturally (successive conditions) on the foundation of the seed of mindfulness already present (primary condition), with the support of the sangha, the sound of the bell, and the practice environment (supporting conditions)
• Maintain continuous, simple recognition so that body and mind are in harmony, “dwelling at home” to care for the five aggregates, to transform suffering and nurture happiness that transcends time

Our mind has three aspects: wisdom, feelings, and will. In the Mahayana Buddhist tradition, the term beginner’s mind is very important. It is the mind at the very beginning of the practitioner’s path, a wellspring of energy that flows from the depths of our consciousness. That mind is called the bodhi mind, which is the will to attain understanding and enlightenment. Because beings suffer due to lack of understanding, understanding is the key to liberation. But in Buddhism, understanding is the foundation of love. The more we understand, the more we can love. Therefore, the bodhi mind is also the mind of understanding and the mind of love. The deepest desire of a human being is to be understood and to be loved.

Beginner’s mind is also our first love. If our beginner’s mind becomes worn out and withered, then there is no longer any hope. Our daily practice must have the effect of nourishing our beginner’s mind. A good practitioner is someone who can offer the fruit of understanding and the fruit of love. But how can these fruits be there if the practitioner does not practice right concentration and mindfulness? The Buddha taught:

1. From mindfulness arises concentration.
2. From concentration arises insight.

The garden that we must tend in our daily life is the garden of mindfulness. Living deeply in mindfulness and concentration, one day our mind will become clear and bright; this is called enlightened mind. At that time, we can see into the depths of all things; this is called seeing our true nature. Without the garden of mindfulness and right concentration, there can never be the fruit of understanding and of love.

Sitting meditation is a simple yet profound miracle: just “truly being present in life,” not letting the mind run away. Meditation not only brings peace, but is also an opportunity to courageously face and uproot afflictions—from family and social conflicts to jealousy within the sangha. Like a rabbit in its burrow, finding temporary peace, but eventually having to go out and live; similarly, if we only “take refuge” in meditation to avoid difficulties, that is not true practice. In the sangha, it is precisely jealousy and anger, as in the case of the monk who developed a skin disease or Venerable Ananda being misunderstood, that are opportunities to practice mindfulness and to transform.

Building the sangha requires patience and a great bodhi mind, not only “enjoying” but also nurturing and raising the collective quality from 40% to higher. The Buddha trained nearly a thousand disciples in about two months, step by step from walking, standing, lying down, sitting, to speaking loving speech, overcoming clumsiness and the group of “the six troublesome monks”—the six who caused disturbances—so that eventually a strong sangha was formed. For more than twenty-five years, the path of “being master wherever you are”—remaining proactive in any circumstance, not playing the victim—and “being truly established wherever you are”—preserving the ontological ground, not wearing a mask—has been the compass for each member to contribute to making the sangha pure, beautiful, and effective in spreading the Dharma.

Practicing mindfulness is not only in sitting or walking meditation, but in every daily activity: washing vegetables, cooking rice, shopping, writing calligraphy, picking tomatoes… Peace in every action is the true reward of the practitioner. When we can maintain ease throughout the day, we become a “bell of mindfulness” for those around us, and our words and methods carry real power. Building true brotherhood through deep listening and loving speech, recognizing weaknesses, illuminating and supporting each other, is the concrete responsibility of every individual in the sangha.

The practice of Touching the Earth is the reverse process of filling up with gas; it is an opportunity to faire le vide, to make oneself empty by letting go of knowledge, fame, degrees, and even complexes. When the five parts of the body touch the earth and the hands are open, the practitioner lets go of the self to become a Dharma instrument of wonder, no longer caught in reverence or material gain. Happiness in the Sangha depends on the capacity to entrust one’s life like a drop of water merging into the river, instead of holding onto personal demands or the seeds of resentment from the past.

The theses from 42 to 48 in the Samayabhedoparacanacakra affirm that the nature of the mind is originally pure and luminous, and afflictions are only guests. Latent tendencies are blocks of afflictions lying asleep, which are neither mind nor mental formations and have no object, unlike entanglements which are bindings and drives which are propulsions. Phenomena are divided into five categories:

1. Form phenomena
2. Mind phenomena
3. Mental formation phenomena
4. Phenomena not associated with the mind
5. Unconditioned phenomena

Regarding cognition, the 12 bases include:

1. Eye base
2. Ear base
3. Nose base
4. Tongue base
5. Body base
6. Mind base
7. Form base
8. Sound base
9. Smell base
10. Taste base
11. Touch base
12. Dharma base

Among them, the dharma base is not an object that consciousness can apprehend. The past and the future do not have a true entity, at the same time there is no existence of an intermediate body, and a person who has attained the fruit of stream-entry has the capacity to attain the power of concentration.